Micro tanks for Hydrogen Vehicles

Scientists at the Rutherford Appleton laboratory of pulsed neutron and muon source ISIS are in the process of finding newer ways to hold hydrogen fuel for vehicles.

At present, hydrogen fuel requires extremely large tanks for holding the fuel required for supplying energy to hydrogen vehicles. Moreover, the fuel also has to be compressed before being stored in these tanks. Due to this reason, a large amount of fuel has to be carried, and a greater quantity than usual has to be used in providing energy to move the heavier vehicle.

But now, scientists at the facility are trying to study potential lightweight materials which are capable of storing hydrogen at the atomic level. The requirements of this material are that it should absorb and release hydrogen quickly and should also be stable at a temperature of around 100°C. The materials should also have lesser tendency to leak out.

The materials selected should be stable under various pressures and at various temperatures. The material should also have enough volume to expand and hold the hydrogen atoms. At present, tests are being carried out on alloys of underweight metals like lithium, boron or magnesium. Another potential metal is zeolite, a highly porous metal.

Since hydrogen is being stored at the atomic level now, it is held both by physical and chemical bonds. According to the scientists, the bonds need to be just strong enough to prevent the gas from leaking out. If the bond is too weak, the gas leaks out easily and if it is too strong, there will be a difficulty in releasing the hydrogen gas properly.